London police Const. Iain Downes leaves Healing Health, an illegal marijuana dispensary on Wonderland Road, after London police and the OPP raided the business on Thursday. (DALE CARRUTHERS, The London Free Press)

More than a month after ignoring an offer from the province to close their doors and go legitimate, London’s illegal pot shops were targeted in an OPP-led crackdown Thursday.

The OPP and London police launched co-ordinated raids on at least two London marijuana dispensaries shortly before 11:30 a.m.

Undercover officers swooped in on the London Relief Centre at 691 Richmond St. and Healing Health at 490 Wonderland Rd., seizing bags of dried marijuana, cannabis-infused edibles, documents and other evidence from the black market businesses.

Const. Jon Dechene stands outside the London Relief Centre, an illegal marijuana dispensary on Richmond Street, after London police and the OPP raided the downtown shop on Thursda. (DALE CARRUTHERS, The London Free Press)

Although both dispensaries have been raided in the past — only to reopen days later — Thursday’s crackdown marks the first time police have taken action against the illegal businesses since Canada legalized recreational cannabis on Oct. 17.

Adults in Ontario can legally buy marijuana only from the government-run Ontario Cannabis Store (OSC) delivery service until private bricks-and-mortar stores open in April.

The province previously said existing dispensaries would be able to apply for retail licences if they closed ahead of legalization, but all of the London operations ignored the offer and stayed open.

A second Healing Health location on Dundas Street and the London Compassion Society on Oxford Street were both closed during regular business hours on Thursday, though it’s unclear whether either was raided.

A note on the Dundas Street Healing Health marijuana dispensary says it’s closed “due to unfortunate circumstances”. No police presence at the downtown store like at the Wonderland location, where OPP and #ldnont police remain on scene pic.twitter.com/BGEDNZU6Vp

London police spokesperson Sandasha Bough would only say that police were asked to team up with the OPP in the operation, referring all other questions to the OPP.

An OPP spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday.

London police had been facing mounting public pressure to take action against the city’s remaining dispensaries and so-called compassion clubs — retailers that sell only to members with medicinal marijuana prescriptions — since cannabis was legalized. Police forces from Vancouver to Halifax have recently cracked down on dispensaries.

Prior to Thursday, London police last raided a pot shop on Sept. 20, 2017, when officers charged five people and seized nearly $50,000 in cannabis and $15,000 cash from the London Relief Centre just days after it opened in the shadow of several apartment towers housing mostly post-secondary school students.

The downtown dispensary, where anyone over 19 can buy cannabis, has also been the target of an armed robbery and a break-in this year.

The two Healing Health locations were last raided on March 2, 2017.

A note posted on the Dundas Street store said: “Due to unfortunate circumstances we are closed today . . . will be open tomorrow.”

A steady stream of customers flocked to the shuttered dispensaries throughout the day Thursday, while investigators could be seen bagging cannabis and filling out paperwork inside the locked stores.

When told that the businesses were illegal by a police officer standing guard at the London Relief Centre, several customers expressed shock. Others grumbled that they’d have to turn to the OCS, a service that has been plagued problems ranging from weeks-long delivery delays and product shortages to a data breach that saw thousands of customers’ personal information accessed.

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